Rangers In Love
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Follows Seperate Ways - A Nighlok has caused the Rangers to fall in love with the wrong people. Jayden and Emily think they love each other. Serena thinks she's in love with Mike. Mia's also got a crush on Jayden, and Mike loved Mia. And, finally, Kevin thinks he's in love with Antonio!
1. The Wrong Partners

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers: (Super) Samurai. This is purely fan-made.

* * *

Antonio held his head in his hands. This was all twisted – it was wrong.

He was all for letting people love whoever they wanted to love. As long as there was no harm done to the couple in the relationship or those around them, Antonio saw no problem with letting two, three, or even a group of people be. If they were happy, he was happy.

But this wasn't right.

He had gotten to the battle late. It seemed Serrator, or Octoroo, or Xandred, or whoever was in charge of the Netherworld at this point had decided the Rangers had been between Nighlok for far too long and had sent one to attack the city. Antonio had been out fishing by himself in the stream not too far from the house when he got the call and had arrived late to the battle (he had been right in the middle of catching a fish and couldn't let it go).

By the time he got to the fight, it was over. The Rangers hadn't won, but the Nighlok had dried out and disappeared, leaving the Rangers to nurse their wounds. At first, as Antonio helped them home, he thought the Nighlok had only left the Rangers with a few cuts and bruises, but now that he was home, he could see exactly what the Nighlok had done.

According to Ji, the Nighlok was a love inducing Nighlok. As cheesy as it sounded to Antonio, it was turning into a lot of trouble.

Love had already bloomed in the Shiba House. Kevin and Mia had been a couple for longer than Antonio had been in the house. Mike and Emily, while they had their highs and lows, had also been a couple for a long, long time. He and Jayden were also in love, and had even recently talked about when they would take the next step.

But that wasn't the case anymore. The Nighlok had overridden the Samurai's emotions for each other and messed it all up. Mike no longer loved Emily; he thought he was in love with Mia! And Mia was no longer in love with Kevin, she loved Jayden.

And that wasn't the end of it. Jayden didn't love Antonio anymore. He was going after Emily. Serena, meanwhile, was following Mike around like a lovesick puppy.

Then, to make things even more complicated, Emily was also in love with Jayden, and she was furious at Mia for also liking him. Mia too hated Emily for actually winning over Jayden's heart. Antonio tried his best to keep the girls from going after each other, and to keep the boys from putting their hands on the wrong girl.

Finally, to top it all off, Antonio hadn't been excluded from this crazy love triangle, or square, or pentagon or whatever the hell it was. Kevin was madly in love with him! Kevin! Antonio hadn't believed it when he first realized it, and he couldn't believe it now. The blue Ranger, who had openly hated him when he first joined the team, was now clinging onto him, begging they go somewhere a little more private.

"Get your hands off!" Antonio cried as Kevin reached for him again. He looked the blue Ranger in the eye, "If it'll get you to shut up, we'll play a board game or something later. But for now, no touchy!"

"Antonio," Mentor hurried into the room with a book in his hands, "I'm trying to look for a way to reverse whatever the Nighlok did, but until I do, you'll be on your own if he comes back."

"Why?" Antonio frowned and then grabbed Mike by the back of the shirt as he was about to sit down next to Mia. It was for the green Ranger's safety, after all. Mia didn't like him, and had no problem letting him know she wasn't interested.

"They are in no state to fight," Ji shook his head, "Until this is reversed, all they will want to do is win over the one they thing they love."

"Or make out," Antonio growled when he saw Jayden and Emily in the corner swapping spit. He knew neither of them could help it, but rage against Emily and feelings of betrayal from Jayden burned inside of him. He let out a cry as he broke them both up, "Touch him again, Emily and you're sleeping outside!" he shouted as he let go of Mike's shirt and stomped over to Jayden and Emily.

Mike took advantage of his freedom to sit down right beside Mia. Mia was staring at Jayden and Emily, fuming as she watched the man she was madly in love with make out with another girl. Mike put his hand on her leg, a smirk forming on his lips. He knew he needed to win Mia over, and he had just the way to do it.

"Make him jealous," he was hoping he could convince Mia to fall in love with him by first having her pretend to be his girlfriend. While that was happening, he would show her just how much he loved her and she would change her mind. The plan was foolproof in his head.

Mia turned to him, "You just want to make out."

"Well, yeah," Mike nodded his head, "but think about it, men want what they can't have. Once Jayden sees you're off the market, he'll get jealous and he'll want you. He'll be chasing after you."

Mia shook her head at first but then the idea sunk in and she grinned. She put her hand behind the back of Mike's neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss.

Just as Antonio filly pulled Jayden and Emily apart, he turned around to see Mike and Mia making out. He turned to Ji, who just shrugged, unsure of what to do at this point.

"MIKE!" Serena let out a hellish scream, seeing her crush making out with another girl. As she lunged for Mike and Mia, Ji grabbed her and held her back. In her right mind, Serena could kill with nothing more than her fist and the right amount of determination. Ji didn't know what Serena could do when she was under a spell and literally out of her mind.

"I'll take care of her," Ji announced to Antonio as he lifted Serena over his shoulder, "You make sure the others don't… reproduce."

"What?" Antonio frowned and turned around. Mia and Mike were still making out on the couch and Jayden and Emily were gone. He looked to Kevin, who was waiting patiently for the alone time Antonio had promised him. "Where did they go?"

"Does it matter?" Kevin said. He tapped the spot next to him on the couch, "Come here, Antonio. We can have a little fun too."

Antonio groaned and shook his head, "That Nighlok did so much more than make you guys fall in love with the wrong person."

"Jayden!" Antonio heard Emily giggling from down the hall and his blood boiled even more now. He clenched his fists and turned to Kevin.

"Could you do me a favour?"

Kevin nodded excitedly, "Anything!"

"Well, really, do yourself a favour and keep Mike off Mia!" Antonio pointed to the green and pink couple on the couch. "I've got to go find Jayden and Emily before… I can't even think about it."


	2. Getting Their Attention

While Antonio had his hands full with the rest of the house, Ji was keeping Serena in his room. Because of the spell the Nighlok had put on her, she was so in love with Mike she didn't know what to do with herself, and seeing Mike obsess over some other girl made her… well, insane. Everyone in the house was insane and Ji knew he needed to find an antidote, or a suppressant, or something to help put some order back into the house.

But he couldn't just come up with something and spray it on all the Rangers and hoped it worked. It wasn't worth the risk. Though he knew what he was doing, he knew playing with medicine was a dangerous game. Before infecting the entire team, he wanted to make sure that what he used was at the very least safe, and for that he needed a tester.

Of course, he would never inject the Rangers with anything he wasn't sure was safe, so before testing anything on them, or in this case, Serena, he would give himself a small dose and see what would happen. If it was nothing, he tested his creation on Serena to see if it would work to reverse the Nighlok's spell.

"Ji, please," he heard Serena beg and before she could say it he knew what she wanted.

"Mike is unavailable Serena," he sighed. "You must remember he is engaged to your sister."

He heard the doorknob rattling and then a frustrated groan from Serena. "He's not engaged! Certainly not to… Emily. Ji, Mike and I are meant to be. He has no idea what he's doing following that slut around. She doesn't love him."

Ji clenched his fist tightly around the bottle and had to remind himself Serena had no idea what she was saying.

"Serena, a Nighlok hit you and the others with a spell. You're in love with the wrong person. Do you even remember James?"

Serena didn't answer. She just rattled the doorknob again, trying to get out. Ji sighed, pushed the key further down into his pocket and continued to work.

-Samurai-

While Ji worked on finding an antidote, Antonio discovered that the best way to keep Jayden and Emily from doing anything stupid, and the best way to keep Kevin from demanding his attention like… well a lovesick schoolgirl, was to double date. He pulled out a board game from under the table and set it up, and the four of them played teams. Jayden and Emily were on one team and Antonio played with Kevin on the other team.

As Antonio's team scored a point, Kevin leaned in for a kiss, just like Jayden and Emily did when they got a point. Antonio leaned away.

"What are you doing?"

"We got a point," Kevin smirked and pulled Antonio in. Just before they pressed their lips together, Antonio turned his head. Kevin planted a kiss on his cheek. When he pulled away he smirked. "Hard to get? You must know I love games."

Antonio put his head in his hands and sighed, "I'll be having nightmares for months."

"Our turn!" Emily cried out excitedly as she reached for the dice and started to shake them around in her hand. Antonio looked to Jayden and saw he had a loving grin plastered on his face. The only problem with that grin was that it was aimed at Emily. Everything Emily did, earned her that grin from Jayden. As she tossed the dice onto the board, Jayden leaned in and snuggled with her.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear. She giggled and turned to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you too."

Antonio grabbed their game piece, "We get it. You love each other," he moved it to the right space on the board, trying to keep everyone's attention on the game, "There, you guys have to take a card," he looked up and saw they were – again – making out. "C'mon, guys! What did I say about PDA?"

"If we lose ourselves in our own little world, does that count as PDA?" Kevin asked and shifted closer to Antonio. The gold Ranger moved away.

"Yes."

Meanwhile, outside, Mike was busy using his symbols to make the best flowers to give to Mia. He knew he had to work to win her over. For some reason she was attracted to Jayden and not him. Though she had agreed to pretend to like him, Mike had a plan to make her really fall in love with him. He would show her just how much he loved her, and how Jayden wasn't right for her.

When he was finished making flowers, he carried the big bouquet inside and saw Mia standing in the hallway, glaring into the common room where Jayden and Emily were playing a game with Antonio and Kevin. Mike just sighed and wrapped one arm around Mia's waist as he handed her the bouquet.

"I tried to make a flower as beautiful as you, but it's impossible," he leaned in and kissed her cheek as she accepted the gift, but didn't take her eyes off Jayden. He wasn't even looking her way. She couldn't even get his attention. Not when Emily was around. Mike saw her staring and sighed. He held her close.

"I know it's hard, but maybe he's not worth your love. He obviously doesn't respect you. You don't want to be with someone like that, do you? Someone who is always looking at another girl?"

He took her hands and forced her to look at him, "Mia, you have a perfectly good guy who would go to the ends of the earth for you. I may not be as good looking as Jayden, but I love you. I'll do anything for you. I'll treat you the way you deserve to be treated."

Mia looked to Mike and then turned her attention back to Jayden for a moment. She had been trying all day, but she couldn't even get him to breathe in her direction. She wasn't doing enough to make him jealous. She needed to try harder. Hugging the bouquet, she pulled Mike in for a kiss, hoping the gift and the passion between her and Mike would be enough. Keeping one eye open, she Jayden finally looking her way, but instead of getting jealous, he just smiled, pointed them out to Emily, and then, when she was distracted by them, he created a box of chocolates from symbol power and gave them to her.

Mia growled. It still wasn't enough. So she turned back to Mike and looked him right in the eye.

"You're right."

"I am?"

"Love me the way I should be loved."

Mike grinned, "The bedroom's free and their game takes a while to finish."

"Perfect," Mia smirked. She took Mike's hand and led him away to the bedroom.

"Point!" Jayden and Emily cried from the common room and they pulled each other in for another kiss. Antonio threw the cards at them.

"C'mon, guys! No PDA!"

"We could join in the fun, you know…"

"NO!" Antonio snapped at Kevin. He opened his Samurai Morpher and sighed, "Where's that Nighlok hiding?"


	3. The Mistake

Serena paced back and forth in Ji's room. She had given up on trying to open the door but wouldn't settle. If she didn't get to Mike soon to profess her love for him, she was going to hurt somebody; and right now, Ji was her only target.

"You can't do this," she growled to Ji, "This is kidnapping."

"Serena, I've told you about the Nighlok…"

"This isn't a Nighlok's spell!" she cried out. "I love…"

"James."

"MIKE! I love Mike!"

Ji sighed and looked to the bottle in his hands, "Serena, drink this and everything will make a little more sense… I hope."

Serena swatted the bottle from his hands, spilling the contents out and forcing Ji to start all over again, "I'm not drinking anything! Unlock that damned door, Ji!"

"Behave yourself or you will go nowhere," Ji shouted. He pointed to the chair in the corner, "Sit!"

"NO!" Serena shouted and pounded on the door, "If you don't open this door, I'll break it down with your head!"

Ji didn't say anything. He just grabbed Serena, forced her to sit, and then pulled out his own Samuraizer and used a symbol to tie her to the chair. He hated having to restrain her, but it was all he could think of doing.

"You will thank me later," he promised her as she struggled to get free. He walked back over to his desk and looked at what was left on the table. This was going to take a while, but at least he didn't have to worry about Serena anymore.

-Samurai-

Antonio wanted to give up. He wanted to throw his hands up into the air, say screw it, and then walk away. He was tired, he was frustrated, he was disturbed, and right now, all he wanted was some time alone with his boyfriend.

That wasn't going to happen. And Antonio wasn't going to catch a break anytime soon. It seemed the Nighlok's spell had its own way of causing misery, and it was working like a charm. Antonio was sure the Sanzu River would flood the Earth at any moment. It had to.

"Guys…" he whined as he walked back into the common room and saw Jayden and Emily on top of each other. He rattled the bowl of popcorn to get their attention, "C'mon. No PDA during the movie."

Jayden glared at Antonio and the looked to Emily, taking her hand softly, "Why don't we go somewhere a little more private, then?"

"Your room?" Emily offered. Antonio shook his head and jumped in their way before they could leave.

"Uh, not my room," he was determined not to leave them alone even for a minute. He had no idea what they would get up to in this state of mind, "I uh… I left my catch from this morning in there. It smells like fish and it's really not romantic…"

"My room then?" Emily suggested to Jayden. Antonio shook his head again.

"No! Uh…" Antonio had to think of another excuse and fast. Jayden and Emily were already starting to get by him, "Uh, no, I have a better idea. We'll double date again."

"No offense, Antonio, but you're kind of a party pooper," Jayden put his hand on Antonio's shoulder. "We've been trying to have fun all night and you've been ruining it. Emily and I want some time to ourselves now."

"But you can't… I… I… aha!" Antonio hurried over to the light switch and turned the lights down, "When I said no PDA during the movie, I forgot the room was going to be dark! There, you and Emily can make out, and I won't have to watch."

Though Antonio hated the thought of letting Jayden make out with someone else, he preferred keeping Emily and Jayden where he could see them. At least then the most they could do was swap spit. Who knew what they would get up to if they were left alone.

"Alright," Emily agreed to the idea hesitantly, "but if you stop us one more time, Jayden and I will finish the movie in my room."

"Alright, everyone get settled," Antonio breathed a sigh of relief and set the bowl of popcorn down on the table and then looked through the DVDs to pick on to watch. Jayden and Emily got comfortable on a bed of pillows and blankets they made on the floor, and Kevin was keeping a spot for Antonio warm.

For a moment, the room was almost silent.

Almost.

As Antonio put the disk into the DVD player, he heard what he thought was a moan, and it was coming from the bedrooms. He turned around, counting the heads in the common room.

"Uh, where are Mike and Mia?" he had been so busy trying to keep Jayden and Emily off each other, he had forgotten all about Mike and Mia.

The others shrugged and they heard another moan. A smirk appeared on Kevin's lips, "Look at that, the little guy got the girl."

"Wait? What?" Antonio dropped the DVD case and hurried out of the room, leaping over the furniture, "DAMMIT!"

He stormed down the hallway and ripped the door open, breaking the lock for sure, but he didn't care. Then he was forced to shield his eyes.

Desperate to make Jayden jealous, Mia was ready to do anything, and with Mike under a spell and at her beck-and-call, she got the chance to do anything. Hoping this would be exactly what she needed to get attention from Jayden; Mia let Mike sleep with her. Because of the spell, Mike was not against it. He was so in love with Mia he had no control over himself. When Mia suggested they go all the way, he was on board, despite knowing where her heart currently belonged. He was convinced that after this, she would surely fall for him.

When the door was ripped open, Mia was hoping for Jayden to storm in, rip Mike away from her, and he would take her into his arms and whisk her away. All she ended up getting was Antonio, who dropped to his knees the moment the door was open and shielded his eyes.

"DUDE!" Mike cried loudly, "So uncool!"

Antonio clutched his head in his hands and took a few breathes. This was definitely the most disturbed he had been all night. Before he could say anything about it, though, the Gap Sensor went off.

He grabbed Mike and Mia's clothes from the floor, "That's it!" he screamed as he threw them their clothes, "Get dressed and get in the common room. Everyone in the common room!"

Given their state of mind, he knew letting them fight a Nighlok would mean disaster, but he would be damned if he left any of them alone again. He watched (and made plans to burn his eyes once this was all over) as Mike and Mia reluctantly got dressed and then he dragged them down to the common room. He sat them down on their stools just as Ji rushed, hearing the Gap Sensor.

"Antonio…"

"Don't let anyone near anyone!" Antonio shouted, too furious to keep cool. Ji nodded his head as Antonio rushed off and then he looked to the Samurai in the room, who were stunned by Antonio's outburst. Keeping his eye on all of them, trying to find an antidote so they could hopefully go out and hep Antonio with the Nighlok, and keeping watch on Antonio in case he needed help before the Samurai were ready was going to be too much. Like he had done with Serena, he used a symbol and tied them all down to their stools. The Samurai struggled to break their bonds, and Ji hated himself for making them feel like hostages in their own home, but he knew they would thank him for it later.

Then he looked at Kevin and turned on the TV to the news, "Keep an eye on Antonio. If something happens to him, call me."

"I want to help him," Kevin struggled the most, "Mentor, he'll get hurt…"

"You will be more of a hindrance than help," Ji shook his head, "You will stay here and help him this way."


	4. There's No Celebrating

Antonio raced into the city, running as fast as his legs could carry him. The adrenaline was already coursing through his veins. After spending a day trying to keep his little sister and his boyfriend from making out, trying to keep Kevin in line, and after witnessing Mia and Mike taking things too far, Antonio was furious and he was ready to kick the Nighlok's ass.

He was morphed by the time he reached the center of the city where the Nighlok seemed to be waiting for him. He didn't even bother to stop and charged the Nighlok, pulling out his Barracuda Blade.

"How's the love shack, gold Ranger?" the Nighlok asked, jumping away from Antonio's furry of uncontrolled attacks. "Are the Rangers tearing each other apart from jealousy?"

"You'll pay for what you did to my friends!" Antonio cried and swung his blade again. The Nighlok caught his wrist and sent a dozen needles into Antonio's chest. The gold Ranger cried out in pain as he stumbled back and fell to his knees. The Nighlok laughed.

"Who should I make you fall in love with, gold Ranger?"

Antonio shook his head and pushed himself back up to his feet. He ripped the needles from his chest and pulled out the Lightzord.

"You have no idea who you're messing with!" he shouted. "Battle Disk! Scatter shot!"

He aimed all the disks at the Nighlok, who trying to avoid as many as he could, but they came out so quickly he couldn't avoid them all. He was pounded by a couple dozen disks and knocked off his feet. Before he could get back to his feet and catch his breath, Antonio was already beating into him again, landing blow after blow with his blade and even his fists. It was clear that Antonio was furious.

The summer sun was hot. It was one of the reasons the Nighlok ventured out less in the summer times and attacks were less frequent. Like humans, the hot weather and the beating sun caused the Nighlok to be dehydrated. As Antonio beat into him, the Nighlok started to notice a few cracks forming in his skin. He saw an opening to hit the gold Ranger and pushed him away.

"I'm drying out!" he cried and started to run, "You're lucky gold Ranger, I was just about to…"

"You're not going anywhere!" with his Barracuda Blade, Antonio slashed the Nighlok across the back, forcing him to fall to his knees. After the day he had live, and knowing how the Nighlok's spell would hurt all his friends, Antonio was not going to let him get away.

-Samurai-

Ji worked quickly in his room. He already knew the last antidote he had created was safe for Serena to drink, but because she had knocked it out of his hands, he had no idea if it would work. He stirred the contents in the bottle and then took a quick sip, again testing it for safety on himself. He waited a few moments, though time wasn't on his side. At this very moment Antonio was out fighting a Nighlok by himself. Every moment Ji wasted was a moment Antonio could get hurt – or worse.

When nothing happened – at least not right away, Ji held out the bottle to Serena.

"I need you to drink this."

Serena shook her head and looked down at her restraints. She was not happy with Ji. All she wanted was some time with Mike, and he was keeping her trapped in his room, tied to a chair. Unfortunately for her, this time she couldn't swat it away in anger. All she could do was scream and shout at Ji.

With no other choice, Ji knew he would have to force it down. He grabbed Serena's head and held her still while at the same time pinching her nose. He put the bottle to her lips and pour some of the antidote into her mouth. Then he closed her mouth and forced her to swallow. When the liquid was down her throat he let her go.

"You son of a bitch!" she screamed at him, "What the hell are you trying to do? Kill me?"

"Serena, please give it a minute. The drink will help you."

"Unless it'll give me super strength so I can break free and go find Mike, I don't see how it'll…" she trailed off and for a moment Ji saw her staring off into space. He balled his hands into fist, anxious to see what would happen and if he actually managed to find a cure.

Serena seemed to snap back to reality after a moment and shook her head. She looked Ji in the eye, "Why am I thinking weird thoughts about Mike?"

Ji knelt down in front of her, "Serena, if I told you I would bring Mike in here and you could do whatever you wanted to him, what would you do?"

"Whatever I wanted?" Serena smirked wickedly. Ji chuckled, positive she was back. He freed her from the chair and gave her the bottle.

"The others are in the common room. For now, don't ask any questions, just make them drink this."

Serena looked at the bottle strangely, and then up at Ji, "Uh, please tell me I was dreaming. All I remember is wanting… Mike…"

She shuttered at the thought. Ji chuckled and gestured to the door, "I will explain it all later if you need me too. For now, Antonio's out there fighting a Nighlok by himself. Get the others to drink this and then go help him."

-Samurai-

Though the Nighlok was halfway to turning into a dried, shrivelled up version of himself, Antonio didn't stop the assault. He was getting tired too, but continued to put disturbing thoughts into his head from the day. Finding Mike and Mia in bed together; watching as Jayden wrapped his arms around Emily and loved her like he was supposed to love him. Those images fueled his rage, and his rage fueled his need to take the Nighlok out once and for all.

Powering up for his final attack, Antonio put all his energy into his Barracuda Blade and swiped at the Nighlok. The Nighlok let out a cry of agony as sparks erupted from the cut in his chest and he dropped to his knees, exploding into hundreds of little pieces.

Antonio watched this happen happily, and when the Nighlok was gone he fell to his butt to catch his breath.

"At least that's over with," he panted loudly.

He spoke too soon. Right before his eyes, the Nighlok grew so he was towering over the city. Antonio stumbled as he hurried away before he was squished by the Nighlok's huge foot and then he pulled out his Samurai Morpher. The Black Box wouldn't work for him like it did the others, so he couldn't call their Zords to help him. Fortunately, though, he did have the Claw Zord, the Lightzord, and Octozord up his sleeve.

"Time to take you out for good!" he cried as he texted the Zords. Then he heard someone calling his name and he turned around. All six of the other Rangers raced over to him, ready to help him fight. Though Antonio was determined to take this Nighlok out by himself, he was happy for the extra hands.

"Antonio," Jayden called again and stopped beside his boyfriend, "I'm so sorry!"

"Me too," Emily nodded. Antonio pulled Jayden in for a quick hug and gave Emily a pat on the shoulder.

"We'll talk about that later. We need to finish this guy off first."

-Samurai-

Back at the Shiba House, Ji was tidying up the house. It seemed six Rangers who were madly in love with each other were enough to cause a mess. As he cleaned up popcorn from the common room floor, he turned to the TV, hearing an explosion from the screen. He smiled when he saw the Rangers had finally defeated the Love-Inducing Nighlok in his second form.

"And not a moment too soon," Ji breathed a sigh of relief. Finally things would go back to normal. Falling onto the couch, Ji took a moment to rest. He was tired.

"I just feel bad for Antonio," Serena sat down beside Ji and chuckled. The Nighlok had already been defeated by Antonio by the time she had come to her senses, and because she didn't have her own Zord, there was no point in sending her out to defeat the Mega-Monster, so she stayed home to help Ji clean. "He had to deal with everyone else. You go off easy, Ji."

"At least it's all over with," Ji said.

-Samurai-

In the Megazord cockpit, the Rangers cheered as the Nighlok exploded before their eyes, giving them another victory.

"Samurai Rangers," Jayden smiled, lowering his Mega Blade, "Victory is ours."

The Rangers took a little moment to celebrate, like they always did after a win. Emily and Kevin turned to each other and high fived, and Antonio pulled Jayden into his arms, making sure Emily caught the exchange. He knew she would never intentionally steal Jayden, but Antonio wanted to make sure she knew he was off limits.

Mia and Mike turned to each other, but they didn't feel like celebrating at all. Through their visors, they looked at each other awkwardly as the memory of what they had done while under the Nighlok's spell came back to them.

It wasn't long before the others noticed there was something going on between them. Emily bounced at her console and leaned forward, looking to them, "Guys! We won!"

Antonio turned around and looked to Mike and Mia. He knew what had happened between them. He had walked right in on it.

Mike scratched the back of his neck, "Uh, yeah… Victory is ours…"

"C'mon, guys, cheer up," Emily insisted, "We know the Nighlok did that to us. It's not like it really means anything."

"Hey, Em," Kevin grabbed her arm and then shot a look Mike and Mia's way. Even with the visor covering his face, the pink and green Rangers could tell he wasn't happy. Unlike Jayden and Emily, Kevin hadn't been completely consumed by love. Though he had been just as obsessed with Antonio as everyone else had been with their crushes, he hadn't staring into Antonio's eyes and ignoring the rest of the world when he heard the moans from Mike and Mia, and had even made a comment about Mike finally getting the girl.

His girl. Kevin couldn't be sure of what exactly had happened, but he knew it was nothing to celebrate. Furious with his best friend and his fiancée, he grabbed Emily by the arm and started pulling her away.

"Wait, Kevin! What's going on?" Emily asked as she was led out of the cockpit by Kevin.

Jayden turned to Antonio, "What is going on?" like Emily, he had no idea. All he could remember doing while under the spell was making out with Emily and getting lost in her eyes. Truth be told, he had no idea what the others had gotten up to.

"We'll talk at home," Antonio sighed and guided Jayden back to ground level.

Mia turned to Mike, "We should…"

"Don't talk to me," Mike shook his head and they set off for home in complete silence.

Mia gulped. This was going to be bad.


	5. Anger And Regret

The entire way home Antonio had to listen to Emily's apologies and he had to constantly remind her that everything between them was cool. Though he wasn't happy with the fact that she had been making out with his boyfriend, he knew what had happened between them meant nothing and now that the Nighlok was gone and the spell was lifted, things would go back to normal. Jayden was his boyfriend once again.

It was also hard to be mad at Emily, knowing the news that awaited her once the Samurai got home. After all, if Mike and Mia didn't tell her, Antonio would.

Antonio also kept his mouth shut about Kevin. Originally, he had planned on teasing the blue Ranger about his crush. While trying to keep the Rangers under control, the thought of mocking Kevin for having a crush on him had been one of the only things that kept Antonio going. Now, though, he knew it wasn't the time.

"I would never, ever, never…"

Antonio put his hand over Emily's mouth and sighed, "I get it, Em. We're good. No harm done. What you said in the Megazord was true. It's the Nighlok's fault. I know it didn't mean anything."

He pulled his hand away from her mouth and wrapped her in a quick hug. When he was sure she was feeling better, he let her go and he looked to Jayden. The red Ranger hadn't let him go since they left the Megazord. Jayden also felt guilt for what happened. He was just as responsible as Emily was. Despite it not being his fault, he felt like he had cheated on Antonio. It was a terrible feeling.

"I'm disgusted…"

"I know, Jayden," Antonio nodded his head, "Don't you think I'm disgusted too? You kissed Emily! Your tongue was down little Emily's throat!"

Jayden chuckled and gave Antonio a loving squeeze, "I really wish I could say that deep down I still knew I loved you, but that Nighlok's spell ran deep. I'm sorry, Antonio. If it's any consolation, no one compares to you now that I'm back to normal."

"That does help," Antonio nodded. "I love you too, Jayden."

After apologizing to Jayden, Emily made her way over to Mike. She hadn't forgotten about him at all and she felt terrible for what she had done. She knew it was the Nighlok's fault, and she knew that what happened between her and Jayden meant nothing, but it was still a bad feeling knowing she had technically cheated. She took Mike's hand softly and leaned in to apologize, but he pushed her away.

"I don't want to talk about it, Em," he growled. He didn't mean to be so mean with her, but he couldn't stand the thought of being near her, knowing what he had done. He knew she felt badly for falling in love with Jayden, but she worst she had done was swap spit with him, and compared to how far he had let things go with Mia, that was nothing.

When Mike pushed her away, Emily started to worry. She wondered if she had hurt him. Though Mike acted like he was strong and careless, deep down he was soft and sensitive. His feelings could be hurt easily, especially if they were manipulated. Her chin started to quiver, terrified he hated her.

Kevin wrapped his arms around her, "It's nothing you did," he promised.

"But…"

"We'll talk when we get home," he assured her and then shot a look Mia's way. She was a little ways off from the others, walking home by herself. Like Mike, she couldn't be near Kevin, knowing what had happened, and Mike didn't want her near him – understandably so. Though it took two to commit the act, Mia had used Mike for her own gain. She never loved him. She had just slept with him to try and make Jayden jealous. Now that Mike was thinking clearly, he could see that, and it hurt him deeply to know that Mia didn't respect him.

She felt dirty. She lowered her head and kept her eyes on her feet until they all got home.

Serena greeted them at the door. Unaware of the tension between the Rangers, she pushed Mike away and hugged her sister, "I promise I'll never try to steal Mike again. He's all yours."

Antonio gestured to the common room, "There's something we need to talk about."

Mike and Mia looked to him worriedly. They knew they needed to talk about what had happened, but they were hoping for some time to get their thoughts sorted. Antonio just shook his head, "You both come clean now, or I'll do it for you."

"Wait, what happened?" Serena asked. She turned to Mike and Mia, who were on the receiving end of Antonio's glare, "Okay, I know Mike had a crush on Mia, but Mia liked Jayden."

"Why don't you come out and answer our questions now?" Kevin suggested and glared at Mia in particular. Though he was positive, he had no doubt in his mind he knew what had happened. All he needed was Mia to confirm it. She looked to him sadly.

"Kevin, it meant nothing. The Nighlok…"

"Screw the Nighlok, Mia. What did you and Mike do together in the bedroom?"

"In the bedroom?" Emily and Jayden both asked and they turned to each other. While under the Nighlok's spell, they had thought of taking things to the bedroom more than once. The only thing that kept them from going that far though was Antonio's watchful eye. Emily looked to Mia, and then to Mike, "Why were you two in the bedroom?"

"It meant nothing, Emy," Mia whispered.

Mike could barely look at her, "I'm so sorry."

"You didn't do…?" Emily looked to Mike, then Mia, and then to the others. Jayden and Serena were putting the pieces together with her, but Kevin was already nodding his head yes, and so was Antonio. Emily wouldn't believe it though. Not until Mike and Mia told her themselves. She looked back at them. Mia was nodding and Mike had tears spilling down his cheeks as he nodded his head.

Behind Emily, Serena growled. To Mike, she suddenly looked ten feet tall, had fangs, and had already killed him. He knew she would be furious, but he hadn't meant for this to happen. He quickly rushed out, "I'm sorry, Emily. The Nighlok made me think I loved Mia and… I couldn't control myself. When she offered it… I…"

"I'll kill you," Serena muttered, interrupting him as she lunged. Emily stepped between the two of them, though, and pushed Serena away.

"Wait!" she cried to her sister and then looked to Mike. She knew him best. She knew him better than he knew himself. She knew he never cried like this unless he was truly hurting. In fact, he really only ever cried for her. She had no doubt in her mind that he loved her. "Mike, is that really what happened?"

Mike nodded his head and pointed to Mia, "She's my sister, Emily! I mean, I love her, but not like that!" he reached out to touch her, but then pulled away, disgusted with himself, "Emily, I'm so sorry. I…"

Emily wrapped her arms around Mike, "We'll figure it out, okay?" she promised him. Mike nodded his head. He could bring himself to hug her back. Instead he just stood there in the middle of the hallway, sobbing like a big baby and feeling like he didn't deserve anything good.

Serena watched this happened and her blood boiled. She punched the wall and let out a cry of pain as her fist broke though the drywall. Ji, who had been watching and listening from the couch in the common room, got up to lead her away. It seemed that even though the spell was lifted, he still needed to keep his eye on her.

He would need to keep his eye on all the Samurai. As he quickly inspected Serena's hand, he suggested to the Rangers that it was time for bed.

"Emily…" Serena looked to her sister. Emily shook her head, took Mike's hand and started for her bedroom.

"I want to talk to Mike alone."

"You're sleeping with…"

"This is my relationship, Serena!" Emily shouted. "I want to talk to Mike alone!"

"Uh…" Antonio started. He looked to Emily and Mike, "Maybe you two should sleep in Serena's room."

"I said…"

"Em… Mia and I did it…"

"Serena can stay with us," Jayden interrupted Mike. It was obvious Mike was going to say he and Mia slept together in their bed, and Jayden knew no one really needed to be reminded of what had happened. He turned to Serena, "After Ji looks at your hand you'll come stay the night with Antonio and me."

Serena grumbled, but it seemed she had no choice in the matter. Ji walked her off to look at her hand, and Mike and Emily changed course for her bedroom. Jayden and Antonio held each other's hands as they walked to their room.

Finally, it was just Mia and Kevin left in the hallway. Mia looked up at Kevin apologetically, but he turned away from her. She sobbed, "Kevin…"

"Do you have any idea how I feel right now?"

"Do you think it's easy for me knowing you were interested in Antonio?"

"I didn't fuck him, though, did I?" Kevin screamed.

The tears poured down Mia's face, "I'm sorry, Kevin. I have no idea what I was thinking. Emily said it before; it was the Nighlok's fault…"

"The Nighlok didn't make you screw Mike. You did that by yourself!"

"Kevin, I wasn't thinking…"

"You have no excuse, Mia!"

"I…"

"You can sleep on the couch! Or better yet. Go sleep in Mike's bed. You seem to like it better anyways."

"Kevin!"

"Just shut up, Mia!" Kevin stormed off to his room and slammed the door behind him. Mia stumbled back until her back hit the wall and then she fell to the ground. She hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face as she sobbed. Mike hated her, she was sure Emily was mad at her too, and she had hurt Kevin. For once, she didn't care who heard it. She didn't care who saw her. She cried and she cried loudly.

Some time passed before Mia felt a hand touch her arm. She knew it was wishful thinking, but she was hoping it was Kevin. She was hoping he decided to listen to her. She looked up, and she wasn't surprised, but disappointed to see it wasn't him. Instead it was Serena with a splint on her hand and wrist.

"I'm not exactly happy with you," Serena muttered and then sat down beside Mia and hugged her tight, "but Ji and I have been listening to you crying for half an hour. And we heard the argument."

"Don't be mad at Mike," Mia sobbed, "it's not his fault. I…"

"I'll do what I want with Mike," Serena shook her head. "Don't you worry about that."

"Serena…"

"Did it mean anything?"

"No," Mia shook her head, "Why would it? Why do you even have to ask? I feel horrible! I feel… I hate myself!"

Serena held Mia a little tighter, "Then if you need me, you can talk to me," she gave Mia a kiss on the forehead and then got up, "I'm sleeping in the dojo. I figured Antonio and Jayden would want some time to themselves."

"Can I…?"

"Of course," Serena nodded and with her good hand she helped Mia up, "Go get the pillows and blankets from the closet. I'll clear a space."

Mia wiped her eyes and did as she was told. She got enough pillows and blankets for herself and Serena to make a comfortable place to sleep in the dojo. She carried them over and dumped them in a pile. Serena had gotten the mats set up so they were comfortable to sleep on.

"Do you want to talk?" she asked Mia as she started laying down one pillow and a blanket for herself. Mia shook her head. Serena breathed out a sigh, "Do you not want to be alone?"

Mia nodded. Serena nodded in return.

"We can sit in silence if you want, then."

Mia nodded again and sat down on her blanket. She looked to Serena sadly, as if waiting to be threatened. Serena saw this. She took a deep breath, "If I ever catch you doing something like this again…"

"I won't."

"I know you won't."

"I love Kevin."

"I know you do."

"I'm sorry."

"I know you are."


	6. Forgiveness And Shame

Understandably, Emily couldn't sleep. She sat in bed, playing with the blankets nervously while Mike set up a spot on the floor to sleep. He insisted he sleep on the floor by himself, so ashamed by what he had done he couldn't be near her. He felt like if he touched her, he would be infecting her and he couldn't do that to her. This was his fault. She shouldn't have to suffer.

"Mike…"

"Please, Em. It'll make me feel better."

Emily groaned and leaned back into her pillow, "Where you thinking the same thing I was thinking?"

Mike looked to her and sighed. He didn't want to talk about what he and Mia had done, but he knew she had every right to ask questions. He also knew he was a very lucky man. He wouldn't have blamed her if she had decided to walk away for good. A little part of him knew that if the roles had been switched, if Antonio hadn't of been so keen on keeping his eye on Jayden and Emily had slept with him, Mike would have walked. It was one of the reasons he was so hurt now. To him, it was an unforgivable act.

"I thought I loved Mia," he explained, "It felt like… that Nighlok had taken everything I felt for you and transferred it over to Mia."

"But you don't actually feel like that… for her… right?"

"Of course not," Mike shook his head. "You don't want to go make out with Jayden right now, do you?"

Emily sighed and lowered her head. Mike watched as she raised her hand to wipe away some tears. His heart broke. He wanted to comfort her but he couldn't.

"I'm sorry, Em. That wasn't cool."

"Mike…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, Em," he shook his head. "You did nothing wrong…"

"I still feel bad," Emily sniffed. "Me and Jayden…"

"Emily, what you and Jayden did is nothing."

"It's something. I'm sorry, Mike."

"Emily…"

"I want to apologize!" Emily shouted. She threw her pillow at Mike, "You're such an idiot sometimes."

"Em…"

"The only reason Jayden and I didn't do what you and Mia did is because of Antonio. Because Antonio wouldn't let Jayden out of his sight. We didn't do the dirty deed, but that's really the only thing we didn't do. I cheated on you too, and I'm sorry!"

"Don't apologize…"

"Why, because it makes you feel bad?" Emily continued to shout. "How do you think you sleeping on the floor makes me feel? I want to try and work things out, but I can't do that if you won't come near me. I cheated on you too. I know what it's like. I know why it happened. I want to forgive you but you're not letting me!"

"You kissed Jayden," Mike shouted back, "Emily, compared to what…"

Emily screamed, turned around, and buried her face in her mattress as she started to really cry. This whole situation was frustrating and confusing and she wanted to work it all out. She wanted to make things right again with Mike. But he was being difficult. She knew this wasn't easy for him. She could appreciate that he was angry with himself, and even hurt, but him keeping his distance was tearing them apart. She could feel it. If he kept this up, she knew what would happen.

When Mike heard Emily scream, and saw her crying into the mattress, his heart felt like it had exploded inside his chest. He didn't want to hurt her.

"Emily…"

"I'm trying, Mike," she pounded her fists into the mattress but never lifted her head. "I want this to work, but if you don't…"

"I do," he got up from his bed on the floor and hurried over to her. He couldn't stand to see her cry, "Of course I want this to work," he pulled her up into his arms, "I just feel… dirty."

Emily didn't say anything. She just wrapped her arms around Mike and held him tight. She knew what he meant. It felt weird being so close to him only hours after he had slept with Mia, but she wasn't about to throw everything away because of a Nighlok. She had been through too much with Mike to let one mistake tear them and their family apart.

For once, her age seemed to work in her favour. Though technically all the Samurai Rangers were young, Emily and Mike were the youngest. When Mia and Kevin had gotten engaged, everyone felt they were old enough to know what they were doing. When Mike and Emily got engaged, Emily remembered having to sit through countless conversations with both Serena and Mia, and she knew Mike had suffered the same thing with the boys. Serena and Mia had talked about the commitment they were getting themselves into. Despite the popularity of divorce, it wasn't supposed to be a fall back. Mia and Serena wanted to make sure Emily knew what she was preparing herself for, and they had done a good job. Emily knew a promise for marriage wasn't a joke. She knew exactly what the ring on her finger meant. It meant that no matter how hard it was, she would do everything she could, and she would work as hard as she could to make her relationship last. She wouldn't give up because one Nighlok tricked him into making a mistake. The Nighlok's spell didn't reflect at all how he truly felt. He loved her. He wanted her. As long as that was how he felt, Emily knew she had to try and make things work. She would be damned if it was all over now.

She stayed wrapped in his arms for the rest of the night. For a while she cried, and then he started to cry as well. When he did, she just held him warmly and promised him they would make it work out in the end.

Eventually, they both drifted off to sleep.

-Samurai-

In dojo, in the late morning, Serena woke up to the smell of breakfast being made in the kitchen. She unravelled herself from around Mia, who despite wanting to be alone had needed someone with her over the night. Though Serena wasn't happy with Mia for sleeping with her little sister's fiancé, it was hard to watch Mia suffer alone.

She wrapped the blankets around a still sleeping Mia and then got up to get some breakfast. She found Antonio and Jayden in the kitchen, cooking like a happy normal couple. She smiled as she sat down at the table.

"You guys seem happy."

The boys turned to her and nodded, "This are back to normal for us," Antonio explained. He dumped a waffle onto a plate and then gave it to Serena, "And Jayden had some making up to do last night."

"Uh, I don't think I want to know," Serena stuck her tongue out in disgust, "After hearing about Mike and Mia…"

"We didn't go that far," Jayden promised her. "Just kisses, cuddles, and letting Antonio get whatever he wanted for the night."

"As long as you kept it in your pants, boys," Serena dumped syrup onto her waffle. "The last thing we need is more of… well… you know."

"Yeah," Antonio sighed as he and Jayden carried their plates over and sat at the table with Serena, "We heard them shouting last night. Do you know what happened?"

"I haven't seen Emily since last night," Serena shook her head and then examined her waffle. With the big splint on her hand, cutting through her breakfast was going to be tough. After hearing what Mike and Mia had done, she had punched a hole in the wall and unfortunately she had bruised her hand pretty badly. Fortunately for her, the walls in the Shiba House weren't very thick, especially where she had punched. The splint was used to help with the pain. Serena found it hurt to move her hand because it was bruised pretty badly.

Antonio took her plate for her and cut her waffle into pieces. Serena felt like a child, but if it meant eating was easier, she wouldn't complain. When Antonio gave her plate back, he looked at her.

"Emily had a point, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"Last night, when you wanted her to sleep with you so she was away from Mike, I think she made the right choice."

"Mike…"

"It's great you're looking out for her," Antonio said and touched Serena's arm, "and I'm sure sometimes Emily appreciates it, but she's right. This is her relationship. You can be there for her when bad things happen, but she's old enough to make her own decisions."

"You sound like Fletcher," Serena muttered. She shook her head and looked to Antonio, "You don't have a little sister, though. You have no idea what it's like. I mean, this isn't a one-time thing. It's not like he's never hurt her before. He almost killed her once and she went back to him. He slept with someone else and she still wants him? If I can't step in there, when can I step in?"

"Let's say you're right about Mike," Jayden joined in the conversation. "Let say this continues. Maybe not intentionally, but further down the road, in some other way, he hurts her again. She forgives him, takes him back, and then he hurts her again and the cycle continues."

Jayden could see a look of worry on Serena's face, like this was actually a possibility. But he had known Mike for a while now, and he had known him for longer than Serena had. Mike wasn't the kind of person who would hurt anyone over and over again – Emily especially. He just needed to say this to get his and Antonio's point across.

"If Emily wants to take him back and forgive him, there's nothing you can do for her. If you try, the only relationship you're going to put an end to is yours and hers. You can only help someone if they ask for it. If they know they need it."

"Jay's right," Antonio nodded. "Whether or not Mike's right for Emily isn't your call to make. It's hers. If she wants to be with Mike, there's nothing you can do about it. You have to let her go."

"I don't like it."

"Do you think I was happy letting Jayden and Emily make out for a day?" Antonio chuckled. "If you care about someone, you do what's best for them, no matter what it means for you. In the end, it'll work out."

"And anyways, you don't have anything to worry about," Jayden assured Serena, "Mike and Emily are good for each other, and they're both smart. If the relationship doesn't stand a chance, they'll both be smart enough to jump ship."

Serena nodded her head and took a bite of her waffle, "Life was easier when her only friends were me and her imaginary ones."

"Emily had imaginary friends?" Antonio smirked. Serena chuckled.

"Oh, the stories I could tell you."

"No one's around now," Jayden gestured around the room, "Share with us."

-Samurai-

It was almost time for lunch by the time Mia's eyes opened and she found herself alone in the dojo. She rolled over, seeing the spot where Serena had spent the night and assumed the white Ranger had woken up first and gotten up for something to eat. Mia wasn't very hungry, but she couldn't spend the whole day in bed. She rolled up hers and Serena's blankets and put them and the pillows by the wall. She was sure she would need them again.

Then she stepped outside, where Kevin was tearing apart a training dummy with his sword. She could tell he was angry. Anyone could see it. He had every right to be mad. Mia remembered vividly what happened the day before and considered herself very lucky she hadn't been kicked out of the house.

She knew it was like poking an angry bear, but she had to try something. She stepped down the stairs and approached the mat, but made sure to keep a safe distance. Kevin would never hit her, but he wasn't exactly thinking clearly.

"Kevin…"

"There's nothing to talk about," he growled at her and put his sword down. He walked to the bench and took a sip of water. He didn't want to talk. He didn't want to listen to anything she had to say. As far as he was concerned it was all over.

"It meant…"

"I don't want to hear it, Mia! You have no excuse. There's nothing you can say that will justify what you did!"

"But, Kevin, I just…"

"NO!" Kevin screamed at her and approached the end of the mat. He looked down at her, "I don't want to talk about it! You did what you did and…"

"I love you, Kevin! Why won't you believe that? Do you really think there's something going on between me and Mike?"

"I won't tell you again, Mia," Kevin growled and he was really starting to intimidate Mia, who was having second thoughts about him never hurting her. "Go a…"

He never finished what he wanted to say. He was tackled by something powerful and knocked clean off his feet. He hit the mat with a loud thud, smacking his nose on the ground. As he sat up and wiped the blood from his nose and mouth, he looked up to see what hit him. Emily stood protectively in front of Mia and she was glaring at him like she knew exactly what had been on his mind.

"I wouldn't have…"

"And you have me to thank for it," she growled and pointed to the house, "Go get cleaned up, and while you do that, Mike wants to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to him."

"Too fucking bad!" Emily screamed, "I'm not letting this ruin us. We're a family. You just promised me that nothing will ever change that. I don't like being lied to."

"Emily…"

"Go talk to Mike, and if you lay one hand on him I'll come after you again!" Emily screamed and pointed to the house. "GO!"

Kevin did as he was told, not that he had much of a choice. He was bleeding badly and needed to clean himself off before the blood left a stain on his clothes.

When he was gone, Emily turned to Mia and everything about her changed completely. She looked up at the older Samurai, completely heartbroken. Mia turned away, ashamed.

"Emy, I…"

"It didn't mean anything, right?"

"I'm so sorry," Mia nodded her head. "I don't see Mike that way. It was all the Nighlok. And even if I did, I would never do that to you or Kevin."

"You promise?"

"Of course."

"Then I forgive you," Emily whispered. "And I want a hug."

"Emily…"

"You slept with my fiancé! The least you can do is hug me," Emily stomped her foot and it was like she had pressed a button on the floor that triggered her tears. Water was pouring down her face as she held her arms open, waiting for Mia to do the same. So Mia did. She pulled the littlest Samurai into her arms and hugged her tight.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Emily put her lips to Mia's ear, "I forgive you. But if you ever do this again, Nighlok or no, I will kill you."

"Understood," Mia nodded and let Emily cry on her shoulder while a few tears dripped down her cheeks as well. She had Emily back, and Serena was willing to fight in her corner, but she still had a very long way to go. Kevin wouldn't even listen to her, and Mike refused to look her way.

By far, this was the worst Nighlok the Samurai had ever faced. Even after his destruction, he was still causing chaos.


	7. Mia's Hardship

Life at the Shiba House was tense for the next couple of weeks.

Despite all of Mike's attempts, Kevin refused to talk and refused to listen to him. Even if Mike tried to talk in his presence, Kevin would tune him out. He ignored Mike, he ignored Mia, he ignored everybody.

Mike and Emily were working hard on getting their relationship back to normal. They weren't cuddling like before, and they hadn't even started holding hands again, but they weren't screaming at each other like Kevin and Mia were. Occasionally they would hug each other briefly, but that was it, and that was only on nights when _the incident,_ as it was now referred to, felt like it was too much to handle for one or both of them. Mike, usually, was the one who broke down and needed a comforting hug and a reminder that things between him and Emily were okay.

Despite being the cause of all the drama, Mike and Mia had the hardest time dealing with the aftermath. Because of what he had done, Mike felt guilty every time he looked at Emily, and he wasn't sure that would ever go away. He had been trying to reach out and touch her, or to pull her into his arms like he used to do. He even tried asking her out to dinner, so they could get some privacy and some time to unwind, but he couldn't bring himself too. Though she was with him all the time, he felt like he was losing her. Like this was only temporary and unless he found the undo button, she would call it quits and leave him.

And then he had to deal with losing his best friend. No matter how much they annoyed each other, Kevin and Mike were best friends. Because of _the incident_, though, that was all gone. If Kevin even looked in Mike's direction, it was to give him a look that killed Mike just a little bit inside. He hated himself for what he had done to Kevin and how he had hurt him. He wanted to apologize. He wanted to try and make things up to him, but Kevin was making that impossible.

Mike couldn't even be in the same room as Mia anymore. Though he had been the one with the crush on her, she had been the one who wanted to sleep with him. She had used him to try and make Jayden jealous. Mike, at the very least, thought he had been in love with Mia when he slept with her, but she hadn't loved him. She didn't even have enough respect for him as a friend to consider the way he would feel. She had hurt him bad, and though deep down he knew it wasn't her fault, he also felt violated. He told Emily this and she had tried to convince him to talk to Mia, but Mike couldn't stand it. He didn't want to look at her or be near her. If he had his way, she would be out of the house.

Mia was having a hard time as well. The only time she would talk to Kevin was when he was yelling at her. He wouldn't listen to her. Everything she said, every apology she made, he spat back at her. Though the Nighlok was to blame, he insisted she was responsible for sleeping with Mike. It got to the point where Mia now believed the whole _incident_ was her fault, and she had taken things way too far. Less and less she was trying to talk to Kevin. Less and less she felt like she would even win him back.

And she knew the looks she was getting from Mike. She knew how badly hurt he was, and how he was blaming her. She tried to apologize, but Mike wouldn't have it. He would walk away before she would get a word out, and because Emily was usually with him comforting him, Mia couldn't even try to talk to Mike through her.

Mia didn't even have her best friend to turn to. Though Emily had promised they were okay, she was too busy running around after Mike, trying to keep Mike and Serena apart (they weren't getting along either, understandably). Emily was also keeping her eye on Kevin and Mike, and when she could, she would talk with Kevin. Mia knew she was doing so to try and help her. Emily was in the same position as Kevin was, and she was hoping he would listen to everyone. Kevin shut her down every time. Sometimes, Mia even heard him yelling at Emily, telling her she was stupid for taking Mike back, and stupid for forgiving Mia. This, obviously, ended up causing a rift between Serena and Kevin, once Serena heard what he was doing.

And Mia knew she was to blame. If she hadn't of wanted Jayden, she never would have slept with Mike and none of this would have happened, the whole house would be in peace. They would be having fun again.

"Kevin! Talk to her!" Mia heard Emily say while on her way to the bathroom and she turned around to see the yellow Ranger dragging the blue Ranger down the hall. Mia waited to see what would happen, though she knew that as soon as Kevin could, he would rush off. Emily had tried this several times before, but with no success. Still, she wasn't giving up. Emily was stubborn. Emily, more than anyone, wanted peace in the house, and she knew that it had to start with Mia and Kevin on speaking terms again.

"No, Emily, let go!" Kevin pulled but Emily used all her weight to keep him from leaving. He groaned as she hung off his arm, "I'm serious, Em. I'm not talking to her."

"You still love her. I know you do! Just talk to her and listen to her side! It's not that bad!"

"Then why are you still crying in the middle of the night?" Kevin asked. He tried to shake Emily off. "Seriously, Em, you're no help at all. Let me go!"

He shook his arm until Emily slipped off and fell to the floor. He gave her an annoyed look before he stormed off down the hall. Emily picked herself off and turned to Mia. She sighed loudly.

"I'll get him to talk soon, I promise."

"Emily…"

"And if he won't budge soon, I'll bring in a doctor. I think that stick is really up there this time."

"Emily, can you come to the bathroom with me."

"Uh," Emily looked around nervously, as if she was looking for an excuse to refuse, "I know we don't get a lot of time together anymore, but that's hardly the way to…"

"It's been two weeks, Em."

"So?"

"Mike and I had sex, Emily," Mia whispered and Emily winced. Though she had forgiven Mia for it, she still didn't like hearing it. Mia took a deep breath, "If we're stupid enough to have sex with each other, what are we going to be stupid enough to forget to do?"

Emily's eyes widened for a moment. Then she shook her head.

"You're on the pill."

"It's not 100%, Em. I'm not even late yet, but I just… I need to know."

Tears welled up in Emily's eyes. Mia reached out and took her hand, "It's only fair we know together."

"What if…" Emily blinked, trying to stop the tears from falling. She looked up at Mia, extremely heartbroken.

"Please come with me," Mia asked and she started to walk to the bathroom. Emily tugged on her hand, but then followed. Mia knew she wasn't allowed in hers and Kevin's room anymore, so she walked into Mike and Emily's room and she headed for the bathroom.

Emily stopped in the bathroom and stared at the bed. She hadn't even been in her room since _the incident_. She and Mike had been sleeping in Serena's room, and Serena had been sleeping with Mia on the dojo floor.

"I'll buy you a new bed," Mia said from the bathroom, "Once we get this all figured out."

"A new bed's not going to erase a baby," Emily walked to the bathroom door and stood as she waited for Mia to do her business, "Are you sure we'll get a positive answer today."

"Hopefully negative," Mia nodded. "I'll double check as the days go by. I just need to do this. I need some kind of answer now. Even if it's not sure."

Emily gulped. She was truly terrified. Though she had forgiven Mia and Mike, and she was trying her very best to put _the incident_ behind her, if it turned out Mia was pregnant with Mike's child, Emily would have no idea what to do next. As more tears started to fall from her eyes, the door to the bathroom opened wider and Mia invited her in. Mia's hand was wrapped tightly around the pregnancy test. It wouldn't be long before they got an answer.

Mia looked down at her little sister and hated herself a little more. She didn't want to be in this position, and she didn't want to force Emily into this position either. It was terrible.

"I'm so sorry, Emy."


	8. Making It Worse

The house was quiet. Too quiet.

Antonio got up in the middle of the night and felt like his stomach was empty. Naturally, he made his way over to the kitchen to get something to eat and that's when he heard the lack of the noise and felt the eerie… nothing.

Because of everything that was going on, there was always a midnight screaming match going on. Someone was always fighting with someone about something that had happened. It had gotten to the point where everyone in the house had learned to let the screams rock them to sleep. It wasn't the best way to live. In fact, Antonio remembered that night he slept on the streets and when he compared it to the way he was living now, it looked like a five start hotel. Unfortunately, it was what needed to be done.

But tonight, there was no screaming. There was just silence. The house felt huge, it felt empty, and it felt like there was something wrong. Knowing Jayden was sleeping peacefully in his room; Antonio started to look around elsewhere. There had to be something happening somewhere.

He checked Ji's room first, cracking the door open just a little and peeking in. The older man was sleeping soundly. There was nothing wrong with that. Antonio closed the door and hurried away before Ji thought he was being weird.

Then, Antonio tiptoed over to the dojo to check up on Mia and Serena. Both were curled up together and fast asleep. Nothing unusual there.

Next, Antonio went to Kevin's room. The blue Ranger had fallen asleep at his desk, but he was asleep. Nothing to worry about.

Antonio walked by Mike and Emily's room. No one slept there. He went over to Serena's and opened the door to check on Mike and Emily.

Mike was in bed, but Emily was nowhere to be seen. Antonio tip-toed into the room to have a better look but he still saw no sign of Emily. He left the room and stroked his chin. She had to be somewhere. As he tried to think of places for her to hide in the middle of the night, he wandered the house, pacing the halls until he reached the common room. There, he looked to Storm's bed and saw the dog was also missing. He breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't much, but at least he knew Emily wasn't alone.

"Her flute," Antonio finally remembered Emily played the flute when she was upset, and given everything that was happening, she was no doubt upset. He walked to the front door and opened it carefully so as not to wake Mia or Serena. Then he stepped outside and looked around the yard. Emily wasn't sitting on the bench.

"Emily?" he called out, not too loud because the house was sleeping, but loud enough for Emily to hear if she was nearby. He stepped down the stairs and looked around the yard again, hoping to spot her. She was wearing bright yellow after all. If she was around, he couldn't miss her twice. "Where are you?"

He ran over to the gate to see if it had been opened. At night, no matter how safe the Rangers were feeling, the gate was always locked, and there was no way to lock it from the outside. Fortunately it was still locked. Emily hadn't left.

Then he heard what sounded like a muffled sob coming from the side of the house. He hurried over to investigate and there he saw her, curled up in one of Ji's gardens, hugging Storm and crying all by herself. Antonio carefully stepped past the flowers and vegetables Ji was growing and sat down beside Emily.

"Why are you alone tonight?" he knew she cried at night. Everyone knew she cried at night, but they all assumed she cried with Mike. Antonio was surprised to see her by herself.

Emily shrugged and wiped her tears from her eyes, "No reason. How did you find me?"

"Gut feeling," Antonio answered. He sighed, "This isn't easy for you, is it?"

Emily shook her head, "Mia took a pregnancy test today?"

"Why?"

"The incident was unprotected."

"Oh," Antonio wrapped his arm around Emily and then it hit him. Mia had taken a pregnancy test and now Emily was outside crying by herself in the middle of the night, "Oh… Em…"

"It's not that. It's negative. At least, for now it is," Emily whispered, "And Mia promised she would let me know the minute it changes, or the minute she gets her period. It's just… it's unfixable."

"What do you mean?"

"We can't go back," Emily shook her head. "Even if there is no baby… it happened. Mike and Mia had sex. It's never going to not happen. Just think for a minute that everything works out. Mike and I are back to normal and Mia and Kevin are back to normal and we're all back to normal and we all love each other. Mike and Mia will always have that moment. I can't…"

She covered her eyes with her hands, "I can't fix it."

Antonio hugged her a little tighter, "Just focus on what you can, Em. Focus on you and Mike and you and Mia…"

"But Kevin won't even look at Mia or Mike! And he won't ever unless I convince him too. And Serena's not talking to Mike or Kevin, and Mia's hurting, and Mike's hurting, and they aren't talking to each other either. I have to fix it!"

"No you don't."

"Yes, I do!" Emily insisted, "I have to, but I don't know how. Every night I come out here and I…"

"Every night?" Antonio asked. Emily looked to him, surprised, and then closed her mouth and shook her head. Antonio shifted slightly so he was turned to her, "Emily, you've been out here by yourself every night?"

Emily pointed to the dog, "Storm's been with me. And I never left the yard…"

"That's not the point," Antonio held her closer, "Em, I knew you were upset, but have you been coming out here every night to try and handle everything by yourself? Have you been out here crying every night?"

"No…"

"You're a horrible liar. Why didn't you come to me and Jayden? Or Serena? You know you can talk to one of us, right?"

"Serena hates everyone!" Emily cried and shook her head, "I can't talk to her. She'll take no one's side. She'll be mad at Kevin, mad at Mia, and mad at Mike. How will that help?"

"Why not come to me and Jayden? We're not taking sides, Em…"

"It's not your problem…"

"Yes, it is," Antonio nodded. He got up to his feet and held out his hand to help Emily up, "Come with me. This ends now."

"Antonio…"

"No," Antonio shook his head, "I've had enough of this. Mia's miserable. Mike's crying every night. Kevin's a pain in the ass for everyone. Serena's pissed with the world. You're out here, by yourself, trying to handle it all and make everyone happy again. No. That's not right."

He pulled her up and held her by the arm. He was practically dragging her back to the house because she didn't want to go inside. She didn't want a big fight. She didn't want to get everyone involved. It would be bloodshed and she knew it.

"Antonio, please…"

Antonio walked her into the house and to his bedroom. He turned on the light, waking Jayden up.

"We need a team meeting."

Jayden rubbed his eyes and rolled over in bed, "It's four in the morning. Whatever it is…"

"Jay, we've waited too long."

Emily was sobbing again and pulling on Antonio's arm, trying to get him to stop, "Don't do this. You're just going to make it worse. I can do it by myself!"

Antonio wrapped his arm around her and held her safely. Then he looked to Jayden, "We have to do this. If Xandred or Serrator send out a Nighlok now, we're dead."

Jayden nodded his head and got out of bed, "I'll get them up. Go hide the sharp objects."

"We're Samurai."

"We'll hide the sharp objects, and then wake them up," Jayden nodded and started to head out of the room.

Emily looked to Antonio, begging one more time for him to call off the meeting. He just continued to hold her close.

"This needs to happen."

"You're going to make it worse."

"It can't get any worse."


	9. An Explosive Meeting

While Jayden and Antonio dragged everyone out of bed, Emily sat in the common room. She was cuddling with Storm, crying into her fur, and rocking back and forth on her stool. With everyone mad at everyone, Emily knew this was going to be an explosive conversation.

In her head, she thought of the many ways this could explode: Kevin and Mia were mad at each other, and while it was obvious they were _on a break, _they hadn't officially broken up yet. This conversation could be the thing that did it. Kevin and Serena were also mad at each other. Kevin was sure Serena was taking Mia's side and so he hated her, and because Emily was constantly trying to get Kevin and Mia to talk, Kevin had yelled and screamed at her, which pissed Serena off.

Kevin was also mad at Mike, for obvious reasons.

Serena was mad at Mike for what he had done. Though her talk with Antonio and Jayden had helped her back off and keep a cool head around Mike, she still had the right to be angry with him for letting things get too far and for hurting her baby sister.

Mike was mad at Mia, again, for obvious reasons.

Really, for this to explode, all it took was someone losing their cool and boom, break ups, falling outs, and ruined friendships. The house was never going to be the same again.

Everything that could be used as a weapon had been moved away from the common room. Training swords, Samuraizers, heavy objects, objects with corners, objects that could easily be thrown or smashed. In summary, the common room was bare; empty. Just like how the house was going to feel once everyone decided they were done with the way things were and they left.

Storm nestled into Emily's chest, trying to be of comfort to the yellow Ranger who was shaking so much, Storm was sure she was living through her first earthquake.

"Emily?" Serena and Mia were the first two to be woken up by Jayden and Antonio, as they were sleeping right next door in the dojo. When they were told to get up for a meeting, they headed over and saw Emily crying uncontrollably. Naturally, they hurried to her side and Serena took her little sister in her arms. "What's wrong, Emily?"

Emily didn't answer. She didn't want to say anything. She closed her eyes and tuned the world out. It was all over anyways.

Kevin was next in the room and was about to turn around when he saw Mia and Serena, but then he noticed Emily. While he had been angry with her quite a bit since _the incident_, he didn't hate her, nor was he truly angry with her. He just got frustrated when she wanted him to talk to Mia. He knelt down next to Emily, "What happened, Em? Are you okay?"

Emily was gone in every way but physically. She didn't feel Kevin touch her back; she didn't hear him talking with her. She didn't even know he was in the room. She didn't know anyone was in the room at this point. She curled up into a little ball, hugging Storm close, and continued to rock back and forth.

"What did you two do?" Kevin turned to Serena and Mia, pointing an accusing look their way and assuming they had something to do with Emily's state.

"We found her like this," Serena answered, her arms still wrapped tightly around her little sister, "C'mon, Emy, say something."

Ji was next in the room. Unlike the others, Jayden and Antonio had actually informed him on what they planned on doing so he knew to take a seat, and suggested to the others they leave Emily alone and do the same. None of them really wanted to, but another _request_ from Ji brought them away from Emily and onto their stools.

Finally, Mike was brought into the room with Antonio and Jayden. Mike looked on worriedly as he noticed Emily, but Jayden led him to his own stool.

Antonio, meanwhile, sat down right on Kevin's lap. Kevin looked horrified at the gold Ranger, "What are you doing?"

"Well, you think it's all real, right?" Antonio shrugged and snuggled into Kevin's chest, "Like the Nighlok tapped into our true emotions for each other. Obviously if what Mia and Mike did was real, then you and I should really consider our options."

"Get off me," Kevin pushed the gold Ranger to the floor and stood up. "What the hell are you thinking?"

"Jayden's fine with me doing a little exploring, right Jay?" Antonio smirked. Jayden nodded his head.

"It's only fair."

Antonio looked to Kevin. He wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him in close, "Let's say you and I go to that little world you had talked about. We'll do all the things you told me you wanted to do."

Kevin growled, "If you really think that's how I see you, you need to get your head checked. That was the Nighlok that…" Kevin was interrupted by Antonio, who shoved him forcefully, tripping him over his stool so he landed on his butt on the floor. Antonio stood over the blue Ranger angrily.

"Then why the hell are you being such an asshole to your fiancée!"

"Because at least I didn't take things too far…"

"Choose, Kevin," Antonio shouted, "What happened with the Nighlok, was it real, or was it just some crazy spell you all fell for. Did it mean something or not?"

Antonio hated being so harsh. He knew how frustrating it was watching the person he loved love another, and fortunately Jayden hadn't gotten to that step with Emily. That meant Antonio didn't really know how Kevin was feeling, but he knew the blue Ranger was being unfair. There was a huge double standard in place, and until things were figured out, that double standard would be the very thing that tore the house to pieces.

Kevin didn't answer Antonio right away, so Antonio grabbed his shirt, pulled him up, and then pulled him into a kiss. Instantly, Kevin started to squirm and he pushed the gold Ranger away.

"Dude!"

"Did it mean something or no?"

"I don't know about you, but I don't play for that team," Kevin angrily shoved Antonio, "Do that to me again and…"

"Answer my question, then," Antonio shouted, "Was the Nighlok's spell real, or just a spell?"

"Just a spell!" Kevin cried out, "If you think, for one minute, that I feel that way about you, I swear to…"

"Then why are you being such a pompous ass to Mia?"

"Because she slept with Mike!"

"And you know it meant nothing! You just said it! It was just a spell!"

By now, the boys were inches apart from each other, both looking like they wanted to tear the other one apart.

"They had sex…"

"And it meant nothing," Antonio insisted. "That's what Emily's been trying to tell you. It was a spell! Do you really think Mike compares to you in Mia's head?"

Antonio walked over to Mia and took her hand, holding it up to show Kevin the ring that hadn't moved from her finger, "Whose is this?"

"Fuck you, Antonio."

"Whose is this?"

"She hurt me!"

"And I get that! I get you've been hurt, Kevin, but now you're just hurting yourself and you're hurting everyone around you. Look at Emily! Look at Mike! Look at Mia!"

"They," Kevin pointed to Mike and Mia, "brought this on themselves," he pointed to Emily, "And I did not do that to her."

"She's in the same fucking spot as you right now, Kevin!"

"No! She chose to forgive Mike! She should have known, once a cheater always a cheater!"

Hearing this brought Mia to her feet. She was about to run and leave when Serena grabbed her arm and sat her back down. Then she got up, pushed Antonio aside and shoved Kevin until his back hit the wall.

"Don't you dare call her a cheater!"

"So I can't have a double standard, but you can?" Kevin scoffed and pushed Serena back, "You hate Mike for the same reason I hate Mia, but you're defending Mia like she did nothing wrong!"

"It's not her fault…"

"So it's mine?" Mike asked and looked to Serena hurt. Serena turned to him and it finally all sunk in. She had been treating Mike unfairly by giving him the cold shoulder while comforting Mia. She looked to Antonio, Jayden, and Mentor Ji. They all gave her a little nod.

She took this as permission to shove Kevin into the wall again and shout, "Mike and Mia did not cheat."

"Oh, little miss perfect doesn't want to make a mistake?" Kevin scoffed at Serena and brushed her off, "You're just…"

"I'm far from perfect," Serena seethed. She shoved Kevin once more and then walked over to Mike. She knelt down in front of him, "I'm sorry."

"It's not like you really…"

"Kevin was right. I did have a double standard. I know how Mia feels. She told me everything. I know it's got to be the same for you and I'm sorry I didn't realize that sooner. If you and Emily want to work things out, I'll support you both."

Hearing this, Antonio breathed a sigh of relief and looked to Jayden.

"We got one."

"Yeah, the little one."

"It's a start," Ji assured the boys and then he gestured over to Emily and got up, "But I doubt this is something she needs to hear. I will take her outside while you try working on them."

Ji got up and he had to carry Emily (and Storm, who she wouldn't let go) out of the house so she didn't have to listen to all the yelling between her friends. It was already obvious she was upset. These types of arguments always hit Emily the hardest.

Jayden stood up beside Antonio and whispered in his ear, "I think you've really got to turn things on with Kevin. He still doesn't seem to get it."

"Are you sure?"

"You love me, right?"

Antonio nodded and gave him a kiss, "No one else."

Jayden gave him a little smile and sent him off. Antonio walked over to Kevin just as he was screaming at everyone about how wrong this all was. Antonio took Kevin's hand and held it lovingly.

"Maybe you and I should do as you suggested earlier. No one's in the bedroom," he leaned in for a kiss, but Kevin pushed his face away.

"What?" he cried and ripped his hand away from Antonio, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Jayden and Emily were so busy making out that you suggested we get our own little room and take advantage of the privacy. I don't know what you wanted to do, but at the rate things were going with all the others, I'm pretty sure you wanted to sleep with me," Antonio said and then he looked Kevin in the eye, "If you want to blame anyone for what happened, then there are two people you can blame: That Nighlok for putting the spell on us, and me, for not keeping an eye on Mike and Mia."

"Antonio…"

"I'm the reason Jayden and Emily weren't at it like rabbits. I'm the reason you never got beyond very strange pick-up lines. I'm also the reason Mia and Mike were left unattended long enough for something to happen. Face it, Kevin, if it weren't for me, things wouldn't have worked out like they did."

"That's not true…"

"It is true," Jayden nodded his head, "You have no idea the things I thought about Emily while under the spell. You have no idea what I wanted to do to her."

"Dude, that's my fiancée," Mike muttered.

"Sorry," Jayden said and then looked back to Kevin, "but it all means nothing now that I've got my head on straight. I love Antonio. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about that."

"No," Antonio shook his head, "You're wrong, Jay. Kevin knows exactly what you and Emily went through. He knows what was in your head and he knows how you felt, because he felt the same thing for me. He's just too big an ass to admit it. He would rather cry like a little baby, play the victim, and have everyone pity him."

Antonio poked his finger into Kevin's chest, "That's not going to happen. If Mia's to blame for cheating on you, then you're to blame for cheating on her. The act wasn't there, but the intention was. As they say, it's the thought that counts. So, from now on, I'm playing fair. You're going to tell me how you want to be treated and that's how I'll treat you all."

Antonio turned to Mia first, "Spell, or true intentions?"

"Spell," Mia whispered. She looked to Kevin, "I would never…"

Kevin turned away from her. Antonio glared at him. That gave him his answer. He then turned to Mike, "What about you? Are you harbouring secret feelings for Mia?"

Mike shook his head, "Dude, she's my sister."

Antonio nodded and then looked to Jayden, "Do you love Emily?"

"Sister," Jayden said, agreeing with Mike. "Definitely just as a little sister."

"Serena?"

"It's the Nighlok."

Antonio smiled, "Can we all agree, then, that what happened doesn't count?"

The Rangers, all except for Kevin, nodded and looked to each other apologetically. Antonio grinned, and then took Jayden's hand and announced he was going to bed.

Behind him and Jayden, Kevin stormed off. He was still furious.

Serena apologized to Mike and Mia again, and then went outside, where Ji had taken Emily. There was no doubt Emily was still very upset, and Serena needed to be out there with her to comfort her. This wasn't an easy matter to deal with.

Mike and Mia were left alone in the common room. Mike got up to wish Mia a goodnight, but she wouldn't let him leave just yet. She called his name and asked him to sit back down. Mike did so with a loud sigh.

"What?"

"What happened with the Nighlok…"

"It didn't mean anything," Mike insisted. "Not from my end and certainly not from yours…"

"It was the Nighlok, Michael. I would never ever do that to Kevin, to Emily, or to you. I swear it was all the Nighlok's doing."

"You used me to get to Jayden," Mike shook his head, "I know it was the Nighlok, but that still hurts. I was disposable…"

"Do you really think you are, Mike? Do you really think I would ever even think of using you like that? Our relationship is way too important to me to ever put it in jeopardy like that. You're the little brother I always wanted."

"What about Terry?"

"I'm known you far longer than I've known Terry. Besides, blood doesn't matter to me. You should know that by now."

"It's just… hard. At least Jayden and Emily loved each other. At least Kevin fell for someone who still had his head on right. I fell for…"

"A bitch," Mia breathed. "I was a bitch under that spell. I didn't care about you. I didn't care about Emily. All I wanted was what I wanted, and if I had to step on people to get it, I would. That's what was running through my mind the entire time and I'm sorry. But it was the Nighlok. I promise."

"I know," Mike nodded. He got up and walked over to Mia. He wrapped his arms around her, "I'm sorry too. I guess a part of me did try to manipulate you. It's not like I said no."

"Friends again?"

"Yeah. Can you do me a favour, though? Can you go help Emily while I deal with something? Tell her we're working on being a family again."

Mia didn't need to be asked twice. She got up and hurried out of the house. Mike breathed out a sigh and then turned in the direction of Kevin's room.

"I wish I had been born with armour."


	10. As Long As You Love Me

Had she not been a tense little ball, Serena, Mia, and Ji would have thought she was dead.

Emily had shut down completely. She wouldn't react to anything: not touch, not smell, nor hot nor cold. Storm had even nipped at her arms and fingers a few times, but Emily didn't budge.

"We're working on it, Emy," Mia promised and tried to lift Emily head, but it was impossible. She wouldn't be moved. She was stiff as a stone. A stone statue of Emily. She was, almost literally, turning into her element. Mia gave up on trying to look Emily in the eyes and wrapped her arms around her little body, "We're going to be a family again. We're doing all we can to make sure that happens."

Mia did all she could to try and convince Emily this was true, and it was getting to the point where she was promising Emily anything she thought would bring the yellow Ranger back. Eventually, Ji had enough of it all. Nothing he and the girls tried would work. Emily was so badly hurt, so scared, and so far gone that there was really nothing that could be done for her.

So he got up and walked to Serena, who was pacing back and forth with worry.

"A body can only handle so much," he said. "Can you use it?"

"It?" Serena asked. Ji nodded his head.

"I fear if we let this continue for much longer, she will destroy herself from the inside out."

Serena gulped and walked inside. Jayden and Antonio had taken her Samuraizer from her, but she knew where they put it. She picked it up and returned to her sister. Kneeling by her side, she whispered in Emily's ear and prayed her little sister could hear her.

"When you wake up, everything's going to be exactly how you want it. I promise," Serena traced the symbol for painless in Emily's back and as soon as she was done her sister was limp. Serena held her and then lifted her in her arms to take her inside.

-Samurai-

Mike was bracing himself for a screaming match, and even some violence. When he and Kevin butt heads, they hit hard.

But when he got to the blue Ranger's room, he thought he heard crying. Opening the door a crack, Mike peeked inside and saw it was true. Kevin was crying.

"Dude…"

"Get out!" Kevin shouted, pushing himself up into a seating position and he pointed for Mike to leave, "I'm not talking to you about it!"

"You're not an asshole," Mike breathed. He stepped into the room and closed the door, offering Kevin a little privacy from everyone else, "You're really hurt. Like, really, really badly hurt."

"What do you think?" Kevin rolled his eyes. He turned away from Mike, hiding his face, "My fiancée slept with my best friend to make another man jealous."

"Hey, I'm not exactly thrilled about that either."

"My fiancée, Mike! You slept with my fiancée! You touched her in a way only I ever should! Do you have any idea how that feels?"

"Emily…"

"You're really going to compare kisses to…"

"Emily kissed Frankie," Mike pulled out the desk chair and had a seat. "Well, most cases he kissed her, but the night we brought her home, she confessed to me that she kissed him once. She kissed him like she would me."

"Mike…"

"That hurt me too," Mike nodded his head, "and I know it's not the same. I know she was just trying to keep herself safe, but I got over it really quickly because I know she loves me. She loves me and not Frankie. Just like Mia loves you. I'm really sorry, dude. Whether I was of sane mind or not, I shouldn't have even looked at Mia that way, but it happened and… it's not my fault. It's not hers, either."

"It just feels… it hurts, Mike. You'll never know until you're on this end. It hurts thinking of her with anyone else. Especially if she's not happy with them."

"Why does it hurt?"

Kevin shrugged, "I don't know."

"Yeah, you do," Mike nodded, "Dude, what happens in this room, stays in this room. I promise."

Kevin looked down at his hands, "You're not going to believe me."

"Try me."

"I don't feel like I'm enough for Mia. I mean… I don't think I'm bad for her, and I try my best all the time… but there's got to be someone better."

"Wow," Mike gasped and then started to laugh, "Kevin, buddy, your head's been shoved so far up your ass for so long, I was sure you knew the kind of person you were on the inside by now."

"I'm self-centered, half the time…"

"Aren't we all?" Mike asked.

"But I just feel like…"

"Dude, you're good enough for Mia. You're like the only person on this planet who is good enough for Mia. Mike, Mia's brother, thinks that at least. You're good enough for my sister."

"Yeah, but…"

"And dude, as your best friend. As your brother, she's good enough for you too. You deserve each other, flaws and all. And she does have flaws too, you know."

"Why are you saying this?"

"Because it's true, you idiot," Mike chuckled. "C'mon. You and Mia are compatible. No one compares to you in her eyes. And… no one really can. Have you seen yourself? You're the entire fucking package."

"Mike."

"I'm serious. You're an amazing guy, when you want to be, you're an awesome boyfriend, I'm sure you'll be an amazing husband, and you're hot dude. I'm not going to lie."

Kevin blushed, "Mike, I don't think…"

"C'mon, don't be modest," Mike started to tease Kevin, "If I were gay, there would be something going on. Antonio must really love Jayden to say no to you. Mia's lucky."

"Seriously, Mike, this is getting weird."

"I still have memories of sleeping with my sister," Mike shook his head, "Trust me, compared to that, this isn't weird."

Mike walked over to the bed and sat down beside Kevin. He put his hand on his shoulder, "You're driving people away right now with the way you've been acting, Mia especially. She's waiting around for you, and I'm sure she'll wait a long time, but given how stubborn you are, I think you'll outlast her if you want to."

"I don't. I do love her, Mike."

"Then work on it. All you can do right now is try to work on it. If you want this relationship to survive, you have to do something."

"Where is Mia?"

"Outside trying to talk to Emily," Mike said. Kevin gave a little nod and then got up. Finally he felt like he was ready to talk.

"Oh, wait!" Mike called before he was gone and Kevin turned around.

"What?"

"Before you get too cocky, you're not exactly the one settling in your relationship. Mia's pretty awesome too. And, she's no Emily, but she's pretty good in bed too."

"I will kill you for that later," Kevin smirked.

"Just saying," Mike threw his hands up in the air, "You're a pretty lucky dude."

Kevin rolled his eyes. It still kind of hurt, but he knew Mike was only teasing. Feeling better, he was ready to face Mia again. He was ready to listen to her and to apologize.

He found her sitting in the dojo, with her eyes on the floor. She was playing mindless with the corner of her pillow, flicking it back and forth. She truly looked hurt. He sat down in front of her, catching her attention.

"It was the Nighlok?"

Mia nodded her head, "I'm so sorry, Kevin. Mike doesn't compare to you. I have no idea what I was thinking."

"I won't say it didn't hurt," Kevin sighed, "but I guess it was stupid of me to let things get this far. What exactly happened? I'm ready to listen."

"Feelings I couldn't control," Mia breathed, "Thoughts and feelings I couldn't stop. I know I slept with Mike, but it's Jayden I wanted and… I'm really sorry."

"And now that the Nighlok's not in your head anymore?"

"I feel like scum. I used Mike, I hurt Emily, and I cheated on you. I…"

"Do you love me?"

"With all my heart. I promise, Kevin, this is never going to happen again. Not with Mike, not with Jayden, not with anyone else. You're the only one I want."

Kevin nodded his head and pulled Mia into his arms, holding her for the first time since _the incident_. He felt a few tears fall down his face and he couldn't believe what had happened, and how he had let it get worse.

"I'm sorry too, Mia. You're the only one I want. Not Antonio, not Mike. Not some other girl. Just you."

"Mike?" Mia pulled away from Kevin and looked him in the eye, "What's Mike got to do with this?"

"He talked to me," Kevin said, "Well, at first he talked to me. Then things got weird."

"How so?"

"I think he started flirting with me," Kevin chuckled. Mia looked to him strangely so he pulled her back into her arms, "Don't worry, I told him to back off. I'm yours as long as you're mine."

* * *

_Author's Note: To the review who keeps asking for "more Jaytonio fanfictions please", I heard you the first time, you don't need to keep spamming my inbox. I will write Jaytonio when I have an idea for them. No sooner, no later._

_To others, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_


	11. Dysfunctional At Last

Mia and Kevin spent the rest of the night talking things out. Mia was completely honest about the way she felt while under the Nighlok's spell and didn't spare a single detail of what had happened (which both disturbed Kevin, and provided him with a lot of blackmail against Mike). Kevin, in returned, shared with Mia what he had talked about with Mike and how the whole thing made him feel. When morning came, though they weren't back to normal, they weren't in danger of breaking up.

If anything, once they got over this hurdle, Kevin was sure his relationship with Mia would be even stronger. If he was right, he would have the Nighlok to thank for it. Not many couple would have survived a hit like this one.

He woke up in the dojo, on the floor, with Mia no longer in his arms. Sitting up, he looked around and saw she was folding up the blankets and putting them away in the hall closet. He walked over to her.

"What are you doing?"

Mia hesitated with the blankets, "Oh, I just thought… I can keep them out if…"

Kevin realized what he sounded like and shook his head. He took the blankets from her hand and stuffed them deep into the closet, "No, my bad. We'll sleep in our room tonight."

"I was thinking," Mia looked up at him, "Maybe we could head out to buy a new bed."

"Why do we need a new bed?" Kevin asked. "Ours is perfect."

Mia chuckled and nodded her head, "I know that. I watched you test it over and over again. I meant for Mike and Emily. I kind of ruined theirs."

"Oh," Kevin said and then he nodded his head, "We need to pay for a whole new bed?"

"I'll pay for it," Mia shook her head, "Don't worry about it. I'll just get Mike. I'm sure he'll want to make sure the bed we pick is comfortable."

"Just Mike? What about Emily?"

Mia lowered her head, "Emily's out of it. We don't know what to do for her anymore."

"What do you mean?"

Mia took Kevin's hand and led him down the hall to Serena's room. She opened the door and found everyone inside the bedroom eating breakfast with Emily, who was still sound asleep from the symbol Serena had used.

"She's…"

"Yeah," Mia nodded, "These things always hit her hard. Family's pretty important to her, and lately we've all been anything but."

"No one is mad at her, though," Kevin shook his head, "We wouldn't have left her. She wasn't losing anything."

"Things were pretty rough for all of us," Antonio said. "I called the meeting last night because I found her crying by herself. She told me she did that every night. She tried making things right again, but we all let her down. I don't blame her at all."

"Em," Kevin sat down beside her bed, "I'm sorry."

"If we're all getting along then she'll wake up soon," Serena said, "That's what she wanted. I'm sure she'll hear it."

"She'll hear a lot of things," Ji shook his head, "That doesn't make any of them true. Actions speak louder than words."

"It'll be ages before we're where she wants us to be," Antonio said and he took Emily's hand. She didn't respond to his touch at all. Were it not for her chest rising and falling and the warmth from her hand, Antonio would have sworn she was dead. A big part of him felt this was his fault. If he hadn't of been so caught up with protecting his relationship with Jayden, he could have stopped Mike and Mia from taking things too far and all the Rangers would have been laughing about the whole affair. Instead, Kevin and Mia were forced to take a hard look at their relationship, Mike and Emily's had taken another big blow, and now Emily was comatose, waiting to come back to a world she once knew.

A world that would never exist. _The incident_ could never not happen. He knew Emily knew this. It had been what she had realized right before he found her crying in the garden, and it was one of the things that broke her heart. Though she had forgiven Mike and Mia, and she was ready to move on, it had still happened.

Antonio turned to Mia, "Emily mentioned you taking a… a test," knowing the relationship between Mia and Kevin was shaky, Antonio didn't want to say pregnancy, but he did want to ask about the test. He already knew it was negative, but the fact that Mia had taken a test was a big deal.

"A pregnancy test," Kevin smiled at Antonio. Mia had told him all about the test during the night. He knew why she had taken it, and though it would kill him if Mia was pregnant with Mike's child, he would learn to deal with it. After all, Mia loved him. That was all he cared about.

"You took a pregnancy test?" naturally, Mike was alarmed to hear this, "Wait, what? Why… I mean… You… are you…?"

"I'm not even late," Mia shook her head, "Not yet anyways. But we didn't exactly use protection and… I just took a test to ease my mind for now, and I'm going to take another one today. I'm going to keep taking them until I either get my period, or the test comes out positive."

"And if it is positive?"

"Then we'll deal with it one day at a time," Kevin promised. "It won't be easy for any of us. But we made Terran work, right?"

"You'll punch me in the face before we find a way to deal with it," Mike muttered to Kevin. Then he put his hands together and started to pray, "If there is a god up there, please don't make me Mia's baby daddy."

"God must get a lot of messages like that," Serena chuckled to herself, "I'll bet, he's got an entire cabinet for prayers from men who don't want to be the father."

"You have no idea how nerve wracking it is wondering if there's a baby in there," Mike pointed to Mia's stomach. Serena's eyebrows shot up.

"In _there_," she pointed to her own stomach, "Try in _here_! You can deny being the father all you want, but it's kind of hard to deny you're the mother when there's a screaming human being coming out of your crotch."

"You screamed a lot more than Terran did," Mike laughed. "You know, my hand still hurts from the day he was born."

"You don't even want to hear about my complaints," Serena shook her head.

"You know, neither of you are really helping," Mia said and then turned to the door, "I'm going to take that test now and then we can head out."

"Head out where?" Jayden asked but Mia was already gone. He looked to Kevin, "Where are you two going?"

"Apparently, Mia owes Mike and Emily a bed."

"Don't you and Mia have two mattresses?" Antonio asked, looking to Kevin curiously, "Just give them Emily's old mattress…"

"We like our big bed," Kevin shook his head. "Besides, I think it'll help Mia feel better."

"I want a new bed," Mike smirked. Then he turned to Ji, "No offense, dude, but you kind of cheaped out when you bought the mattresses for us."

"No one has complained yet," Ji said. Mike shook his head and gave the older man a pat on the shoulder.

"I'm complaining now."

"Do you want a new bed or not, Mike," Kevin gestured to the door, "I know you'll want to try out beds, but I'm not letting you go out in your pyjamas. Get ready and then we'll go."

Mike gave Emily's hand a squeeze and then kissed her forehead, "I won't settle for anything less than perfect. I promise."

As he made his way over to the door he stopped for a minute. Though it wasn't a real kiss, this was the first time since the incident where his lips had touched Emily. He smiled and then bounced out of the room like an excited little boy.

Things weren't perfect, but they were definitely all back on the right path.

Kevin watched Mike go with a laugh and shook his head at his little brother's nonsense. Then Mike called him from inside the bedroom. Kevin walked in, a little reluctantly considering Mike was supposed to be getting changed.

Mike pointed to the bed, "All that's going to have to be burned."

"I won't disagree," Kevin said. The bed was as much of a reminder to him as it was to anyone else. Though Mia had insisted she pay for everything herself, Kevin wouldn't mind helping out if he needed to. He wanted the bed gone just like everyone else.

"You can rip everything off the bed while I get changed in the bathroom," Mike promised and grabbed some clothes from the floor. Kevin couldn't understand why Mike wouldn't just use a dresser.

He ripped the blankets from the bed and dumped them into the hall for someone else to dispose of, and then he started to wipe his hands on his pants. He felt dirty just touching the sheets and the duvet.

He looked around the room for anything else that would serve as a reminder, or any other parts of the bed that had been tossed aside. He figured Mike would be a little wild in the heat of the moment.

His eyes caught sight of something he had almost forgotten all about. On Emily's dresser (which was a bit of a mess so Kevin couldn't stare for long) he saw the necklace everyone had made for Emily. It had been made of charms valuable to each of them and assembled not long after Scruffy died, as a reminder to Emily that, no matter what, she would always have her friends by her side. Give the mismatched charms, the necklace was a little hard to wear on a daily basis, and was pretty ugly, but it had a very special meaning to Emily and right now, Kevin was sure she could use it.

He picked it up and when Mike came out of the bathroom he showed it to the green Ranger. Mike nodded his head and the boys went back to Serena's room. On the way, they bumped into Mia, who happily announced the test had come out negative once again. Kevin couldn't be any happier, but he still needed to give Emily the necklace to wear while she slept. The three of them walked back to Serena's room and Kevin approached the bed.

He tried to put the necklace on, but he couldn't figure out how to connect it. Serena chuckled and gave him a helping hand, clipping the lock together and then laying the necklace out on Emily's chest.

Not even a few seconds later did Emily start to stir. Even in her deep sleep, she could feel the weight of the necklace, and the unique shape of it, on her chest and she knew what it meant. She opened her eyes, but closed them again right after, blinded by the light. She rolled over in bed, hiding her face in the pillow.

"Turn off the light."

"We can't really turn off the sun. It keeps us all alive," Kevin chuckled. Emily heard his voice in a happy tone and pushed herself up. She was a little shaky, but she managed to prop herself up and look over her shoulder at Kevin. He smiled at her, "Sorry I was an ass."

"You're always an ass," Emily giggled. She sat up and looked around the room. Everyone had smiling faces. She wasn't too sure what had happened. The last thing she could remember was trying to convince Antonio not to call a meeting. Now, everything seemed right again. "Was I dreaming?"

"Unfortunately, no," Mike shook his head, "What happened happened."

"That explains Serena's room," Emily muttered and looked down at her hands sadly, "Whatever I did to be unconscious, I'm sorry. I'll never run off, or go after a Nighlok by myself, or drown myself, or freeze myself, or… what else have I done that was stupid?"

"You didn't do anything this time, Emy," Serena assured her as she sat down beside her and took her in her arms. "Well, you did do something. You helped fix us."

"How?"

"The same way you always do, Monster," Mia laughed, "You're you, and we don't like when you're anything but."

"So… wait… are you and Kevin…?"

"Working on things," Mia nodded her head. "He and I finally talked last night. We're going to be okay."

"We're still going to move far away and keep you in the basement," Kevin teased her. "That's a promise."

"I would prefer if you didn't."

"You don't get a say," Kevin smirked. Then he nodded his head to the door, "Wanna go bed shopping with us? Mia promised you a new one."

"Why don't you all go?" Ji suggested and he started to collect the dishes from the Rangers' breakfast, "It'll be good for you."

"Going to a store filled with beds? I'm in," Antonio smirked.

"I'll just get changed," Emily smiled and bounced out of Serena's bed.

Kevin shook his head, "Naw, we're going bed shopping. Pyjamas are practically required."

Mike's jaw dropped, "But you said…"

"Double standards, Mike. She didn't screw my girlfriend. That automatically puts her way higher than you on my list of favourites."

"But I will steal her," Emily grabbed Mia's arm and pulled her out of the room, "I don't know why, but I have a feeling you promised me all the ice-cream I could eat. I don't like being lied to."

"When did I do that?"

"And, you promised me a trip to the zoo!"

"I did?" Mia asked and then it all hit her. The night before, when she had been trying to comfort a lost Emily, she had made a thousand promises. It seemed that despite being miles away and lost in her own world of worries, Emily had heard them all.

"And…"

"A new bed, ice-cream, and a trip to the zoo is more than enough, Emily," Mia had to put a stop to the promises. The bed alone was already going to leave her broke. She wouldn't be able to afford much else.

"I was going to say we should all go to the zoo. As proof to me that you guys are all getting along again."

"Deal," Mia nodded. Emily grinned and hugged the pink Ranger.

"And you promised I could play with the monkeys. I like gorillas the best. Make it happen."

Emily let go of Mia and skipped out of the room, with Mike right behind her, shrugging his shoulders and laughing at Mia as he walked by.

"I would hate to be the person to disappoint her."

"She's got an Ape Zord!" Mia cried and looked around at the others for help, "What does she mean, she wants to play with gorillas? She can do that anytime here at home!"

"You slept with her fiancée, Mia," Jayden reminded the pink Ranger and chuckled. "Besides, who doesn't want to play with monkeys."

"Gorillas?" Mia shook her head, "They'll tear her apart!"

"Emily's always been a big dreamer," Serena chuckled. "You might want to start making phone calls. Well, after you buy her a bed."

Mia turned to Ji as they all followed Emily out to the van, "They suck."

"Go buy the bed," Ji smiled. "I'll take care of the zoo. I know a guy."

"Of course you do," Mia adjusted her purse on her shoulder. She looked down at it, "Well, wallet, it was nice knowing you. I'll remember you fondly."


End file.
